The Virus
by OptimusPrime2017
Summary: Rex, Kenobi, and the Flare. Between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope.
1. Chapter 1

Captain Rex struggled through the Tatooine deserts alone. He had no supplies. Nothing at all besides the remains of his armor; the pant legs, helmet, and belt. There reason he was running was because the Empire went to many, maybe all of the settlements on the planet, shooting strange darts out of strange weapons.

Many people died immediately, many didn't. Rex was lucky to not be shot. Some people lasted a couple hours, often complaining that their heads hurt. The clone was determined to find out what was behind this plan of the Empire's.

Suddenly, he stopped walking. He saw a man standing at the top of the next sand dune. It wasn't a stormtrooper. From here, Rex couldn't recognize him. The clone took off his helmet and started running down the dune he was on, towards the figure.

After a couple minutes, he reached the man. He stopped in front of him. Rex recognized the man at one.

"General?" He asked, warily. Order 66 was still too fresh in everyone's minds, so it was safe to be cautious.

"You're a clone?" Obi-Wan Kenobi murmured.

"Yes, sir." He nodded.

Kenobi took out a scanner and swiped it over Rex's arm. It revealed a picture of a clone's head and a number below it.

"Rex?" Kenobi looked him in the eye.

"Been a while, sir." He nodded.

"You didn't join Anakin and the Empire?" General Kenobi asked, slightly angry and confused.

"Never would have any way." Rex turned his head and pointed to a mark that showed where his Inhibitor Chip had once been. "I'm not their toy to be messed with."

Obi-Wan heaved a sigh of relief. "Good."

"I take it Cody betrayed you?"

"Yes. Right after he gave me my lightsaber back." The Jedi muttered.

"Did the Empire attack the city you were in too, sir?" He suddenly asked.

"They did." Kenobi nodded. "They had weird tubes for weapons that shot out darts. So much pain, so much death."

"Won't be long before one of them finds us." Rex muttered darkly. He put his helmet back on. "We got to move."

Obi-Wan nodded in agreement. "Couldn't agree more, Captain."

The two Jedi moved through the desert at a brisk pace. After about an hour, they heard a noise. The noise of some kind of Imperial ship.

"Oh no." Rex grumbled. He turned slightly and saw a stormtrooper on a speederbike. There was more than one though. Rex didn't bother counting, but guessed there were maybe five, at least.

Rex and the general began moving faster. The speederbikes passed them, but one stopped and the trooper turned around, blasting his tube.

The dart hit Rex in the chest, sending him crashing down onto his back. Rex felt warm blood streaming from the wound. He gripped his belt for a blaster, and then remembered that he lost it in the scramble to leave Mos Eisley. He got to his feet with a groan.

General Kenobi had ignited his lightsaber and was deflecting darts. The stormtrooper turned around on the vehicle and sped off after his squad.

"I hate those guys." Rex muttered carelessly.

"You alright?" Obi-Wan asked him. The Jedi closed his lightsaber and returned it to his belt.

"Fine, sir." Rex ripped the dart out of his skin, taking a chunk of skin with it. He threw it onto the ground. "Let's keep moving."

"Alright." Kenobi responded.

The two allies trekked onward through the desert. A few days later, they reached the next city. The first thing they noticed was the rotten smell of death.

"Like we're not used to this." Rex scowled.

They moved in between buildings, looking at all of the bodies. Bloody bodies littered the city everywhere.

"Looks like they've been here." Rex told Kenobi.

"Yes, I think they have." The general nodded.

Rex saw a man curled up under a table outside of a building. The man had one hand to his head. He was murmuring, "It hurts. My head hurts so badly."

"I think it may be some sort of virus." Obi-Wan said a little while later.

"I agree with you." Rex told him. "So many people holding their heads and whining about it."

"Any idea what kind of virus it might be?" The Jedi asked.

The clone shook his head. "No, sir."

"Let's get a ship and leave the planet." Kenobi decided. "Nothing good is going to happen here."

"Where can we go?" Rex asked.

"Haruun Kal, perhaps." Obi-Wan replied.

"Sounds interesting to me, sir." Rex responded.

"Alright, Rex, let's go get ourselves a ship."

The captain nodded in agreement.

They went into a ship bay and found an Imperial shuttle. Rex had just opened the hatch when they heard some inhuman shrieks.

"What was that?" Rex was suddenly alert.

"I don't know." Obi-Wan replied, warily.

Suddenly, the bay door burst open and a group of seven or eight people burst in. They were all bloody and had a look of madness in their eyes.

"Where are ya going?" One snarled, inhumanly.

Rex, who had found a loaded blaster earlier, aimed it at them. "Back off!" He shouted.

"We ain't going nowhere. We ain't going." A woman replied strangely.

"W-what are you?" Rex asked, shocked by the behavior of these people.

"Call ourselves Cranks, nosy man." The first man spoke up again. "Crazy Cranks. It's what we are now."

"What did this to you?" Rex demanded.

"Da darts from those weapons of the Empire guys." The woman spoke unevenly.

Rex gulped, thinking that he could turn into them soon. "Well, if you don't mind, friends, we'll be leaving."

"No! No, you ain't!" The man shrieked. He and his comrades started racing at them, hands held in front of them zombie-like.

"Get on the ship, Rex!" Kenobi shouted.

He saw the general vanish aboard. He managed to shoot the leading Crank in the chest before scrambling up the ramp.

"Close the ramp!" Rex screamed at Kenobi.

"Working on it!" Was the reply.

The hatch began to close as soon as he stopped speaking. The woman managed to start scrabbling and scratching at the ramp, trying to get in. Rex kicked her in the jaw and she fell out backwards with a thump.

"Go!" Rex hollered at Kenobi.

The ship turned on with a shake and rose into the air. Rex heard the Cranks shrieking inhumanly as they looked for ways onboard. The ship started moving forward as the big door opened for them to leave. Rex heard some thumps on the roof as the ship left the bay, flying towards the sky. The clone raced into the cockpit.

"I got hit by one of those darts, remember sir?" Rex reminded Obi Wan.

"Yes, I remember." General Kenobi answered.

"Do-Do you think I will become one of those, uh, Cranks?" He asked.

"What about Cranks?" A snarl came from the cockpit exit.

Rex spun around. "How did you get on?" Rex almost spat at the five Cranks standing before him.

"How many?" Kenobi asked.

"Five." Rex muttered.

"We Cranks have our our ways, sucker." A second Crank answered. "We're da Cranks, remember? We have our own abilities too, ya know."

"Yeah, yeah." Rex muttered. "The virus, what's it called?"

"We call it da Flare. Nasty things it do to people." A third Crank responded. "I was once a nice Pete, but now I turned into a insane person. Dat Flare virus, it attacks the brain."

"I see." Rex nodded, nervously. "Real nasty." He raised his blaster. "Now, get off of the ship."

"Why shall we listen to ya." Pete asked, menacingly. "Dunno who ya are, now, do we, gang?" He looked back at the other Cranks.

"Not like I know who you are." Rex retorted, stalling. He cocked the gun. "Don't make me shoot you all right now, right here."

"You ain't shooting nothing." The same woman as before snarled. "We gonna go tear ya up so bad, ya wish ya never came to Tatooine. We gonna shred ya insides and eat ya."

These people really were insane. Rex started firing his blaster and in seconds, all of the Cranks were dead. "Easy." Rex muttered.

He had Obi-Wan open the hatch so that Rex could throw out the bodies. The captain sat down in the seat next to Kenobi and felt a beating pain in his head, which was odd because he didn't remember hitting it on anything.

Then he realized what was happening; He had the Flare!


	2. Chapter 2: Gone: End of Story

Rex put his hands to his head, showing his frustration. His breathing increased from the upset feelings that pricked at his thoughts.

"What's wrong, Rex?" Kenobi asked.

"I-I have it." Rex found it hard to talk. "That virus they were talking about."

"How do you know?" The general asked.

"I can feel it inside my head." He murmured.

"Feel it?" Obi-Wan was obviously confused.

"I can feel it like it's a headache." Rex murmured.

They both fell into silence for the rest of the flight. They arrived on Haruun Kal, landing at a small civilization. They landed in a ship bay, only to be met by Cranks.

"Not here too." Rex complained. "Let's go, before they tear this thing apart."

Too late…

There was a loud bang as a thruster was ripped off and hit the ground. Then another noise as the other one fell off too.

"Or not." Rex muttered. He grabbed his blaster and looked at Kenobi, who grabbed his lightsaber.

"Better hope there isn't any Imperials here either." The Jedi said.

"No kidding." Rex responded.

They held their weapons up, ready for an attack as they moved towards the hatch at the back of the ship.

"Let them open it." Obi-Wan whispered. "We'll give them a surprise."

Rex nodded to show that he understood.

Instead, they got the surprise when the hatch blew open. The two friends were sent sprawling to the ground. They got up immediately, holding their weapons high. Kenobi had ignited his lightsaber now.

They heard a few Cranks shriek and laugh inhumanly.

"Well, it opened." Rex muttered sarcastically.

"Let them come to us." Kenobi whispered.

Rex gave him a thumbs-up.

A minute later, three Cranks raced in. Kenobi took care of them before Rex could even fire a shot.

"Is that it?" Rex asked. "Was it that easy?"

"Let's go." Obi-Wan ignored him. "Guard the rear."

"Yes, sir." Rex replied.

They walked out of the ship, Rex keeping a very constant watch behind them. They exited the bay, finding injured citizens everywhere. Most lay around, holding their heads and complaining. A few were managing to walk around, trying to help others. No one seemed to be badly infected out here…yet anyway.

Jedi and clone walked through the city, not finding any more flyable ships.

"So, we're stuck here?" Rex asked Kenobi.

"For now, yes." Obi-Wan answered.

"Great." Rex muttered sarcastically. Then he added, "I'll die here."

"Relax." Kenobi told him. "We'll find a way off of the planet soon. For now, let's stick together."

"Yes, sir." Rex said, rolling his eyes under his helmet.

"The Clone War is over, Captain." Kenobi reminded him. "You can stop calling me that."

"Yes, sir." Rex replied. Then he corrected himself,"I mean, alright."

Obi-Wan chuckled at the clone's confusion.

"Not funny." Rex muttered. "So, how many planets do you think got attack with the disease?"

"I don't know. Maybe all of them, maybe only a few." Kenobi answered.

"I hope a few." Rex said.

"So do I." Kenobi agreed.

As they walked on, still looking for other ways to leave, Rex felt the pain in his head slowly increasing. At some points, he couldn't even control his own thoughts, movements, or emotions. It began to worry him. He really did have the Flare.

After a few days, they heard more and more Cranks in the city. The two allies began moving through the back alleys and upon roof tops. As they trekked through a dimly lit alley, they heard an inhuman shriek followed by a few laughs and more shrieks.

"Cranks." Rex muttered to Kenobi.

"I know." The Jedi responded.

Rex turned around to guard the rear. He saw five Cranks running at them. One had a knife and the rest were unarmed.

"I got this." Rex told Obi-Wan.

He shot down the first Crank, only to have his gun knocked away by the second. Rex felt his emotions fly away as he pinned the Crank down and started choking it. He picked up his gun and shot another Crank. The one underneath him struggled, screaming at him.

"Shut up!" He snarled at it.

He shot another Crank. He punched the man under him in the face, knocking him out. He raced towards the last one and she charged too. Rex clipped his blaster to his belt and leapt on top of her. He started pummeling her, making her shriek. The knife slashed across his cheek, but he didn't notice. He ripped it from her hand and forced it into her chest.

Then reality came back to Rex and he realized what he'd done. "What the-" He breathed through heavy breaths. "St-stupid virus." He felt pain on his face and reached his hand up to the cut. He felt blood all over his face too. Not much of it was his own though.

He forced himself to his feet, still stunned by what the Flare made him do. He knew it wasn't much longer before it took him over completely. Rex almost wished he died in the Clone War so he never had to experience this hellish life.

He staggered over to Kenobi, who looked just as shocked as he was.

"L-Let's get out of here, General." Rex forced out, finding it almost impossible to form words.

Kenobi just nodded.

They moved through the shadows, hoping to see no more Cranks. Soon it was dark and they had to stop moving. They sat down against a brick wall.

"Did the virus make you do that earlier?" Kenobi asked him.

"Yes." Rex answered, not feeling like talking about it. "I defin-definitely have it."

Obi-Wan nodded slowly. "Get some rest, Rex."

"What about you, sir?" He asked.

"I'm fine." The Jedi told him.

"O-okay." Rex muttered, closing his eyes.

He felt the Flare flowing through his head, attacking his brain. He felt it controlling him every couple of minutes. He opened his eyes again.

"What's wrong?" Obi-Wan asked.

"I-I shouldn't sleep." He answered. "Th-the virus controls me every couple minutes. If I do sl-sleep, it might fully have me when I wake up."

"In that case, let's just have a break for the night."

"N-no problem, s-sir."

When it was bright enough to see the next morning, they started moving along again. Rex was barely hanging in there now. He was controlled every few seconds, rather than minutes. He found it possible to say only a few words at a time. He knew that any minute he would be gone.

"Rex?" Kenobi asked.

"W-What?" He asked.

"How much longer do you have left?" The general had a look of sorrow deep in his eyes.

"N-n-not long a-at all, n-n-now." He answered, stuttering horribly.

"I won't kill you, Rex." Obi-Wan told him. "You've always been a great soldier."

Rex smiled weakly. "A-a-and you have b-been a great general. P-p-pleasure serving you, sir."

*X*

As Obi-Wan looked at the great clone captain, he saw madness flare up into his eyes. He saw nothing else through that, he felt nothing else either. He couldn't feel Rex's presence anymore.

Captain Rex was a fully gone Crank now. The Crank glared at him and charged. Kenobi jumped up on top of the building next to him and looked down at the shrieking Crank that was once his friend.

"Goodbye, Rex." He murmured. He turned and started running along rooftops. Kenobi couldn't feel the virus in him, and knew he should have it by now. He realized that he was immune. Then he repeated, "Goodbye, Rex."


End file.
